Maximizing Customer Loyalty

Think for a moment about your customers. If you have a healthy, thriving business, you probably have a handful of companies that have been with you forever; you have a bunch more that have maybe come on board in the past year or two, and you have some that have just signed on. Who’s getting the most attention?

If you’re like average companies, it’s the newbies. You’ve made sure everyone on your team is aware of the new business; you’ve sent out press releases, made the necessary intros and probably made a pest of yourself more or less sucking up to them. Admit it; you have. It’s no big deal; we all do it.

But in your zeal to make sure they feel the love, what about the others? How much attention are you paying to those long-time customers that have been with you through recent (and not so recent) business turmoils? Are they getting the same attention as the new kids on the block? Probably not; and therein lies the rub.

Business relationships—like love relationships—tend to lose some of that luster and spark over time; it’s only natural. We begin to take each other for granted, wrongly assuming that they “know” we care. And in business—just like in love—that can be a fatal mistake.

I had a car I bought new, and went back to the dealer for regular service. At first, I was warmly greeted every time I walked into the service reception area. But after a while, it started to feel like I was burdening them with my complaints of unexplained noises and rattling emanating from the car. The final straw came when a hook broke off the exhaust system. I went in to have it replaced and got a call a few hours later.

“Mr. Thompson, we have bad news and good news,” they began. “The bad news is, your whole exhaust system needs replacing. The good news is, we found one at an after-market dealer for ‘only” $500.” For a frickin’ HOOK?

I told them to STOP what they were doing, take the car off the lift and I’d pick it up immediately, which I did. I then went to a local muffler shop, where they welded a new hook on for $50.

But I wasn’t done yet. I went home and composed a detailed letter to the president of the dealership, telling him of my (so-far) undying loyalty despite “not feelin’ the love.” I closed with the story of the muffler and welding story, and hinted that this might well be the last time I buy his brand of car.

To his eternal credit, he actually called me at home and apologized, saying he’d been in the business a long time, and was sad to report that his mechanics had slowly melded into “parts-replacers” (his words, not mine). And as a make-good for my crappy experience, he authorized my next TWO oil changes for free.

That impressed me on several levels: First, that the owner himself would call me AND apologize; secondly, that he admitted his people dropped the ball; and third, that he gave me something of value for all my aggravation.

Needless to say, I continued to patronize his dealership, and even bought yet another new car from him. (BOTH Nissan Altimas, if you must know. The new one is a hybrid, and it runs great.)

In the IT world, with new companies popping up daily, your customers have a myriad number of choices before them. Your competitors would love nothing better than to steal them, and will court them just like a new lover would. It’s probably happening right now.

If it’s been a while since you told your customers, new or old, how much you appreciate them, today might be a good day to do so. A simple call or e-mail, asking how they’re doing and what you could be doing better for them, would mean the world to them.

If you don’t, you can be damn sure there’s someone else in the wings waiting to do so. And once they leave, all you’ll be left with is some hand-wringing and thoughts of could-woulda-shoulda. But it’ll be too late by then.

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